Hits and Misses
by Kitkatney
Summary: The boys go undercover at Huntsville. Will they survive?
1. Hits and Misses

Sons of Thunder  
Hits and Misses  
by Kat Caine  
  
  
Trent Malloy stepped off the old battered bus and into the heat of the Texas sun. He brought his cuffed hands up to shield his eyes as he looked up at the penitentiary. It's solid stone walls stood out from the gold of sun and sand.   
  
A shove sent him forward and he barely managed to catch himself.  
  
"Move it or lose it, Buddy!" Trent half turned to see Carlos Sandoval  
glaring menacingly at him. Trent shot him an angry look and moved forward.   
He was stopped by a guard who checked him for weapons. Finding nothing, he   
sent him into the building where another guard led him to Cell Block C. The   
guard uncuffed him and shoved him into cell number 12. The door slammed shut   
behind him.   
  
"Nice place," he mumbled sarcasticly. The guard sneered and walked away. Trent sat down on one of the bottom bunks of a bunk bed and surveyed   
his surroundings.  
  
Another bunk bed was on the west wall and a small toilet and sink   
stood in one corner. Trent grimaced slightly at the thought of using it. He heard a click and the same guard shoved another prisoner into the cell. It was Carlos.  
  
"Meet your cellmate, Malloy," the guard said coldly. "Play nice!"   
Laughing evily, the gaurd left. They glared at each other until the guard was out of earshot, then they smiled in relief. Carlos sat down next to Trent.   
  
"That was tougher than I thought it would be, but I had fun," Trent  
told him, then said, "By the way, nice shove." Carlos laughed and draped his   
arm over his friend's shoulders.   
  
"Thanks, but we still have penitentiary life to get through in the next couple of days. What we just did was CHILD'S play compared to what we have to do next." Trent's smile slowly disappeared.  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
"All right, newcomers. I will be your cell block warden for as long   
as you are here, so obey me, respect me, and we won't have any problems, you  
got that?" There were catcalls, whistles and a few boos as the warden,  
Dani Byers, finished her little speech. The woman was small, but intimidating and Carlos could tell that this particular woman packed a punch.   
  
He took his gaze away and looked for Trent. He soon spotted him next  
to a few large, muscular men. He seemed to be doing okay for his first time  
undercover in prison. Carlos had no doubt that his martial arts trained   
friend could take care of himself.  
  
"Sexy things come in small packages," a husky voice behind him said.  
  
Carlos turned to see a tall black man staring hungrily at the warden. He  
grimaced slightly. He hated men who did or THOUGHT those things about women,  
BUT he had too fit in. He gagged inwardly at the thought of what he had to do.  
  
"Yeah," he said and then reached out his hand to him. "Carlos   
Sandoval." The black man took his hand and shook it.   
  
"Garret Murphy," he said and then asked, "What are you in for?" Carlos shrugged.  
  
"This and that. You name it, I've done it. You?"  
  
"Three counts of rape, two counts of assault and battery, and first degree murder." Carlos shuddered slightly. His hunch had been right.  
  
"Sandoval!" Carlos turned to the warden. "Come with me." Carlos  
followed the warden to another room where a phone lay on a single table in the room. "Phone call. You've got ten minutes." The warden left, leaving Carlos alone, but he knew she was just outside the door.  
  
"Sandoval," he said. A familiar voice answered him.   
  
"Hello Carlos." He smiled.  
  
"Hey Walker." He sat down in the chair next to the table as Texas  
Ranger, Cordell Walker, spoke.  
  
"Just called to see how you two are holding up," Walker said with a  
little something else in his voice that Carlos identified immediately.  
  
"And to remind me to keep an eye on Trent," Carlos finished for him.  
  
"Don't worry, Walker, Trent will be fine. After all," Carlos  
continued, "He learned from the best." He heard Walker laugh on the other end of the phone. Walker taught martial arts to Trent and he was Trent's mentor and one of his closest friends.  
  
"I can see he's in good hands," Walker said just as the warden came   
in and held up one finger. He understood.  
  
"My warden just walked in," was all Carlos said and Walker immediately  
said his good-byes. Carlos hung up.  
  
"Cutting it close, Sandoval," she said. Carlos smiled smugly.  
  
"What I do best," he said and walked out of the room, Warden Byers  
scowling, close behind.  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
One of the men turned from talking to Trent to watch Carlos leave.   
He knew these men from somewhere, but he couldn't put faces to the names.   
All he knew was that it was vitally important to his health.  
  
That night.....  
  
"What a day," Trent said as he plopped down on the top bunk of one of  
the bunk beds. He was exhausted. Carlos was fixing the top bunk on the other  
bed. He pulled himself up, dangled his legs over and looked over at Trent.  
Trent noticed his look and said, "Yes, I know. We have some more days here,   
but I have a plan on how we can speed it up a bit." Carlos leaped down from   
his bed and leaned up against Trent's bed as he listened.  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
Trent squinted into the sun as he worked outside. Carlos was a few   
yards away from him. He sauntered over.  
  
"Hey, Sandoval. You're in the way!" Carlos leaned on his shovel.   
  
"Why don't you move you ass and go around?" he snapped back. Trent   
shoved him away, then tried to walk ahead. Carlos reached his hand back and  
punched him in the face. Trent staggered back and then swung his leg into a  
kick that landed in Carlos stomach. Carlos keeled over but recovered quickly  
and lunged at Trent. They went at it, kicking, punching, and blocking until   
two security guards and the warden broke them apart. They glared threatening  
at each other as both were dragged to the warden's office.   
  
They were held apart as the warden stood in front of them, glaring holes into their skulls.   
  
"What the hell do you think you two are up to?" she asked. Neither said a word. She picked up some papers that were lying on her desk and handed them to Trent and Carlos.   
  
"I did some checking up on you two. You're not here as prisoners. You're here as undercover private eyes! Like I didn't have enough trouble!" Trent and Carlos looked at each other.   
  
"We were sent here by Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker," Trent told her and raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of him, haven't you?" Byers narrowed her eyes.  
  
"I've heard of him, but let me make one thing clear. Stay out of my way, or your cover will be blown," she said and smiled crookedly. "I don't need to remind you what prisoners think of undercover cops or PIs."   
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
There was a quiet buzz of noise as five men sat in one cell. A man stood in the shadows and he raised his hand. There was immediate silence.   
  
"I have two people in mind to add to our little crusade. Sandoval and Malloy," he said and the noise started again. "Are their any objections?" One man raised his hand.  
  
"This Carlos guy. He's a cop! And his buddy Malloy is a PI!" Murphy's eyes narrowed.   
  
"And how would you know this?" he asked.   
  
"He and Malloy were the ones who got me arrested me a few years back. They're the guys who sent me to jail!"  
  
"Well then we'll just have to take care of that now won't we?"  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
"Lunch time!" a guard shouted and immediately, all the cells opened. Guards took their places as the prisoners came out and stood in line. They were led to a cafeteria where the only thing worse than the smell, was the food.   
  
Carlos and Trent took their trays and sat down next to a medium sized, bearded man.   
  
"Hey, I know you!" Carlos said, a grin coming on to his face. The man looked up from his book. He didn't have a tray of food. "You're the guy whose family blew up half of L.A." Carlos paused for a second, thinking. "Carter Sweeney." Sweeney looked at him calmy.  
  
"You get an A plus," he said, going back to his book.  
  
"It was all over national news." Sweeney didn't answer and Carlos went back to talking to Trent. Murphy and Greg Townsend, a man in for armed robbery, walked up behind them.  
  
"Malloy," Murphy said. "We need to talk." Trent glanced at Carlos and shrugged. He got up and started walking after him. He didn't see Murphy signal to a man near the door.   
  
As they walked out, the man made his way towards Carlos. Carlos stood to leave and as he left, the man followed. He followed Carlos to a door, where the warden let him in. Carlos came out a few minutes later and headed for his cell.  
  
He was almost there when he felt himself being grabbed from behind. Before he could call out he was punched in the stomach. He fell to his knees and then felt an elbow slam him into his back. He sprawled onto the floor and was pulled roughly back to his feet. He felt something hit his face a couple times, too out of it to realize it. Then he felt something slam into the back of his head and he found himself falling. He felt the blackness swirl around him before it overtook him completely.  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
Trent sat in the center of a group of five. He glanced around, hoping they didn't see his nervousness. He looked back at Murphy, not liking the look in his eyes.   
  
"Why am I here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, and keeping his voice calm and demanding. Murphy smiled.  
  
"Don't look so worried, Malloy. We just wanted to ask you a simple question."  
  
"And that would be?" Murphy brought his face up close. So close, Trent could see the cigarette stains on his teeth.  
  
"Would you like to die quickly? Or would you rather die a slow, agonizing death?" Trent jumped up but was forced back down, by hands digging into his shoulders. He knew nothing would come of panicking so he forced himself to relax. Murphy laughed.  
  
"How about slow and agonizing?" Trent said, trying to buy himself some time to think of a plan. Murphy grinned and stood up straight.  
  
"Well, what do you know? That's what I was thinking." Murphy brought his hand up and backhanded Trent. His head snapped and a trickle of blood appeared on his chek where Murphy's ring had hit him.  
  
"Is that the best you can do?" Trent asked. "Because if it is, it wasn't worth the effort."  
  
Murphy sneered and his fist connected with Trent's abdomen. He let out an involuntary grunt of pain, the air rushing out of him. He tried to get away but his arms were pinned brutally behind him and someone had a hold of his legs. He couldn't move.   
  
"You haven't felt nothin' yet, smart ass." He couldn't do anything as Murphy hit Trent a couple more times, taking turns between his face and stomach. But Trent was still conscious. He wearily smiled up at Murphy.  
  
"You can't win. It will take more than strong fists to stop me." Murphy smiled wickedly and reached inside his pocket.  
  
"THAT is why I brought insurance," he said and brought out a knife. Trent tried not to look at the flashing blade.   
  
Murphy brought down the knife on Trent's upper right arm. Slowly and deliberately, he pressed down and cut a semi-shallow gash down his arm to almost his elbow. Trent tried to ignore the pain and nearly lost consciousness.   
  
"Freeze! All of you step away from Malloy! Raise your hands up high. Murphy." Still smiling, Murphy raised his hands above his head. Six law enforcement agents stepped in, quickly handcuffing Murphy and his men and escorting them away. Trent clutched the wound on his arm to try and stop the bleeding.   
  
Carlos came in, followd by a doctor, who began cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Carlos's own head was also brandishing a bandage.  
  
"It's over." Carlos said, sitting heavily in the chair beside Trent.   
  
"Now life can return to normal."   
  
"Our life. Normal," Carlos said, chuckling. "I never thought of our life as normal."  
  
"You know what, Carlos?" Trent said, running a strong hand through his hair.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're probably right."  
  
  
BACK AT THUNDER INVESTIGATIONS  
THE NEXT DAY....  
  
"All right, guys," Kim Sutter, Trent and Carlos's office managed said, "You're back." That's when she noticed the bandages on their faces. "What happened?" Trent sank into another chair and Carlos leaned against the wall.  
  
"Nothin' much. A few guys decided to use our heads as punching bags but other than that," Carlos said, touching his bandage and wincing. "We're fine." Kim looked at them skeptically.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Trent gave her a quizzical look.  
  
"Were you worried about us, Kim?" Kim bit her lip and forced a laugh.  
  
"Me? Worried about you guys? Bah," she said, avoiding his eyes. Trent and Carlos chuckled slightly as they glaced at each other. Carlos checked his watch.   
  
"Wish I could stay and chat but I promised Heather I'd take her out the first free night I had." Carlos practically raced toward the door.  
  
"Who's going to write up the report?" Trent protested, starting to get up and grimaced when he put weight on his right arm. Carlos was already out the door. Trent sank back down, favoring his arm. Kim was at his side in an instant.   
  
"You alright?" she asked, searching his face and reaching for his jacket.  
  
"It's nothing..." Trent started but Kim had already taken off his jacket and had seen the large bandage wrapped from his arm pit to his elbow.   
  
"Nothin' huh?" she said. Trent gave her a lopsided smile and she stepped behind him and began to rub his shoulders. Trent sighed, starting to relax.  
  
"Thank you," he said, closing his eyes. She smiled as she rubbed her fingers into his shoulders and neck, kneadind out all the knots. Trent sighed, starting to relax.  
  
There was a knock on the door. He got up to answer it before Kim could move.  
  
The door swung open and as fast as lighting, a leg kicked out and its foot landed smack dab in the middle of Trent's chest. The kick through him off balance and he flew against the wall, his head slamming against it, knocking him unconscious.  
  
"Trent!" Kim shouted but was unable to get anymore words out as a large, dark man came in, blocking her view of Trent. She backed up, but in a flash he had grabbed her arm and clamped a piece of cloth over her mouth and nose. Her head swam and she slowly slipped into darkness.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED....  



	2. Private Eye Blues

Private Eye Blues  
by Kat Caine  
  
The paramedic was just finishing up on Kim Sutter when Texas Rangers, Cordell Walker and James Trivette walked up.  
  
"What happened Kim?" Kim looked up at the tall man, worry in her eyes.  
  
"I don't know, Walker. It happened so fast and the man was covered in shadows. I'm not even sure If I got the look right." She noticed Walker and Trivette glance at each other. "Do you know something I don't?" she demanded.  
  
"Garret Murphy broke out of prison last night," Walker paused a second. "and Carlos is missing as well." Kim gasped.  
  
"Does that..." Her voice trailed off as she realized the answer. "Oh God."  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
Trent was having nightmares. They were filled with darkness and dispair. And he couldn't get away from them.  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
Carlos woke up groggy, in a dimly lit room where there was only a small hospital bed. Everything was white and one wall was entirely covered with a mirror. He grimaced at the sight of himself. His bruised face and dark circles under his eyes stood out immensely with the background of white walls. He didn't get to notice anymore as the door opened behind him.  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
Trent finally awoke from his nightmares, bathed in sweat. His room was much like Carlos' but unlike Carlos, he could see through the glass. He saw the man step in behind Carlos.  
  
"Carlos!" he screamed through the glass. "Behind you!" Carlos couldn't hear him. He watched in despair as the man moved closer to him. He saw Carlos turn just as a fist slammed into Carlos' face. Trent spun furiously into a round kick, his foot colliding solidly with the glass. All it did was knock him to the floor. He tried once more and found himself glaring at the glass. It was unbreakable. All he could do was watch helplessly as Carlos was beaten. He slammed his hands onto the glass and slid to the ground, unable to take his eyes off Carlos as he weakly tried to fend off his attacker. A single tear rolled down his cheek.  
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
Kim sat next to a woman who was messing with something on a computer screen. Kim's hands were clenched tightly in her lap as she looked at the man's face on the screen. Walker stood behind her.   
  
"Are you sure this is it?" Kim shrugged.   
  
"He was covered with shadows, I'm not... Wait. His right hand had a scar across the palm. I noticed it when he grabbed me." Kim shuddered a little and Walker placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The woman typed in the information and then printed it out. Walker squeezed her shoulder gently.  
  
"You did a good job." Kim nodded and as Walker went to walk away, she stopped him.  
  
"Trent and Carlos are going to be okay, right? I mean, well," Kim stammered and then quickly, "I want to know the truth." Walker looked her square in the eyes.   
  
"The truth is, I don't know." Kim slumped back in her chair, forcing back tears.   
  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
Carlos awoke, his head pounding with the effort to open his eyes. The pounding on the mirror didn't help. He forced himself up and winced at his reflection. He saw the mirror vibrate and he sank down next to it. He could here something over the sound of the pounding.   
  
"Carlos..." Trent's voice was calling him. It took a minute to realize that the voice wasn't in his head.   
  
"Trent?" He placed his hand on the mirror. Knowing his friend was just behind the glass, he felt calmer. "Trent!"   
  
On the other side, Trent placed his hand over Carlos's and pressed his forhead on the glass. He was relieved to see Carlos awake, but he was worried about the way Carlos was holding his side. He wished there was someway to talk to him. But before Trent could think, he heard a hissing sound and saw some kind of white cloud coming in through his vent. He looked back at Carlos and realized that the gas was only on his side. He began to cough and his body began to feel boneless. He slowly slid to the flow, his eyes closing slowly.  
  
"Carlos...."  
  
Carlos heard the hissing and noticed that the pounding had stopped. He pounded on the glass.  
  
"Trent! Trent!" He emphasized his words with his pounding. He gasped at the pain in his side and curled up on the floor. He tried to calm his panic. "Trent...."  
  
"Don't you enjoy having your friend suffering only a few inches away and not being able to save him?" Carlos tried to locate the sound of the dark, menacing voice and realized that the man was speaking through an intercom. "I mean, a big hero like you must have a hard time not doing good deeds all the time." The voice was dripping with sarcasm and each word was making Carlos angrier.  
  
"You, you psycho!" He yelled and gasped for breath. "You pathetic, bastard." The voice didn't answer and Carlos struggled to get up.   
  
As he straightened, his head began to spin and he had the faintest sensation that he falling.  
**************** **************** **************** ****************  
  
"Trent? Trent..." Trent heard the voice through the fogginess in his brain and struggled to open his eyes. A blurry figure stood above him and he blinked a few times to clear his eyesight. Kim, Walker, Alex and Trivette stood above him and the person in front of him, holding his hand was his mother, Katie.  
  
"Mom?" She smiled and kissed her son's hand. Her cheeks were wet with tears. "Mom, I'm okay," he said a little embarrased but glad to be out of that room. He bolted upright. "Carlos!" The room was silent for a few moments.  
  
"Trent," Alex started, "Carlos suffered a punctured lung and... he's in a coma." Trent pushed aside the sheets and hung his legs over the side of the bed.   
  
"Trent?" his mom asked, her eyes worried and questioning.   
  
"I have to see him." Trent forced back tears. "So either help me there or I'll do it myself. But with your help, it would be easier." Knowing it was useless to argue with him, Walker and Trivette carefully helped him up, and sat him in a wheelchair. Katie tucked a blacket around his legs and took her place behind the wheelchair. Walker went to help but she held up her hand.   
  
"He's my son. I want to do this." Walker nodded and followed her out as she pushed the wheel chair down the hall to Carlos's room. Trivette, Kim, and Alex hung back, letting Walker and his mother stay with him.   
  
As they opened the door, Walker heard an involuntary gasp from Trent, but stayed quiet, knowing it would only bruise his pride more. Katie pushed the wheelchair as close as she could get to Carlos. She set the break and touching Trent's cheek, walked to Walker.   
  
"I'm going to talk to the doctor. Please.. keep an eye on him?" Walker could sense the desperation behind those words. She had lost her husband not long ago. She didn't want to lose her son, too. He nodded slightly and, looking relieved, she left, closing the door softly behind her. As soon as she was gone, Trent broke down. He had his hand clenched in Carlos's as tears flooded his cheeks.  
  
"I'm going to get them for this, Carlos," Trent said, his voice shaking. A determined looked flashed through his eyes and he lifted his chin, his voice steady now. "Even if I die trying."  



End file.
